History of Ben Franklin Statue

" The bronze statue [of Benjamin Franklin] that stands on
the Camp Street side of Lafayette Square was
erected in 1926, when the city accepted it as a gift from Henry
Gustine, a Civil War veteran then living in Chicago.
Many years before, while passing through the Crescent City,
Gustine became intensely homesick for the North. As he
walked by Lafayette Square, he saw a statue of Benjamin
Franklin and took comfort in finding a familiar face in a
place far from home.

Gustine returned to New
Orleans each year - for more than 40 years - to visit the
statue. But one time he arrived to find Franklin was gone.
Weather had damaged the statue's pedestal and had taken a toll on
the marble image itself, so the city had chosen to store the
statue at the public library while leaving the vacant pedestal in
Lafayette Square. Gustine was heartbroken. Learning
there was no money to replace the statue, he returned to Chicago
and raised enough money to have a bronze statue of Franklin cast
and donated to the city of New Orleans. Inspired by Gustine's
generosity, and in recognition of Franklin's contributions
to printing, the New Orleans Typothetae and other
printers' organizations donated a new pedestal.

I was not able to find out who designed the statue that Gustine
donated to the city, but I do know that it is not a replica of
the original Lafayette Square statue. The original marble
statue, by sculptor Hiram Powers, was erected in
Lafayette Squarein 1873. Over the years, Powers'
statue had many moves and many adventures. It is now housed at Benjamin
Franklin Senior High School on Leon C. Simon Boulevard.

Why was this much-traveled statue first placed in Lafayette
Square? While still a struggling young sculptor, Powers
had met Richard Henry Wilde, who would later serve as the
first professor of law at the University of Louisiana.
When Powers wrote and told Wilde about a statue of Franklin
he was making in the hope of having it erected in Washington,
D.C.,Wilde talked a number of prominent New
Orleanians into purchasing the statue for this city. Partial
payment was made in 1844 with the understanding that the
balance would follow upon delivery. So far, so good.

But Wilde died, the Civil War intervened, and Powers'
contract was forgotten until 1869.Powers completed
and shipped the statue in 1871, but freight charges were
left unpaid. The statue was held in a local warehouse and
advertised for sale. The bill, however, was paid just in time to
prevent the statue from being sold at auction. But the statue hit
another obstacle when two shipments of granite for its pedestal
failed to arrive. Eventually, all the details were worked out,
and the statue was unveiled June 19, 1873.

Over the years, it has occupied two different sites in Lafayette
Square, as well as the old New Orleans Public Library and
two different locations of Benjamin Franklin Senior High
School. For an inanimate object, he's quite a traveler! The
postcard [above] dates from circa 1900 and shows the Powers
statue as it stood in Lafayette Square. This is one of
the last images of the statue at that location. It was moved to
the New Orleans Public Library in 1909."

Webmaster's Notes:

The marble statue of Franklin, sans pedestal, now
stands in the foyer of the high school at 2001 Leon Simon Dr.
It was moved there as part of a Jazz Funeral style
parade in March of 1990 when the school moved from its
original site on Carrollton Avenue (current site of Lusher
Extension School).